http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/20101227 ... museum.htm
Karpen's Pile
Karpen's Pile
Don't know if any of you have seen this. A battery purported to have been powering something since 1950.
http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/20101227 ... museum.htm
http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/20101227 ... museum.htm
Interesting, but [not wishing to pour water on it {-joke!!-}] sulfuric acid can hold a heck of a lot of energy. Probably enough to turn a tiny galvanic wheel for 50 years.
About 3 months ago an AA Duracell battery went flat in my calculator. OK, maybe nothing unusual about that. When I took it out, I realised it was the same one I had put in in ~1988/9. It has lasted in my calculator for over 20 years!
I tried to find a contact at Duracell in case they were interested, but after failing to do so I figured out the fact it lasted that long was probably only interesting to some sad engineer like me!
So could two big glass jars of sulfuric acid hold a charge about twice as long as a Duracell AA?.......
About 3 months ago an AA Duracell battery went flat in my calculator. OK, maybe nothing unusual about that. When I took it out, I realised it was the same one I had put in in ~1988/9. It has lasted in my calculator for over 20 years!
I tried to find a contact at Duracell in case they were interested, but after failing to do so I figured out the fact it lasted that long was probably only interesting to some sad engineer like me!
So could two big glass jars of sulfuric acid hold a charge about twice as long as a Duracell AA?.......
chrismb wrote:Interesting, but [not wishing to pour water on it {-joke!!-}] sulfuric acid can hold a heck of a lot of energy. Probably enough to turn a tiny galvanic wheel for 50 years.
About 3 months ago an AA Duracell battery went flat in my calculator. OK, maybe nothing unusual about that. When I took it out, I realised it was the same one I had put in in ~1988/9. It has lasted in my calculator for over 20 years!
I tried to find a contact at Duracell in case they were interested, but after failing to do so I figured out the fact it lasted that long was probably only interesting to some sad engineer like me!
So could two big glass jars of sulfuric acid hold a charge about twice as long as a Duracell AA?.......
Did you read that the plates are made of Gold and Platinum? I thought those were pretty unreactive.
Interesting. Probably not revolutionary. I'd have to see the numbers, but it apparently does not make much energy. It does not appear anyone has really seriously researched it. To be meaningful in a scientific sense it needs to be replicated multiple times, at which point it becomes possible to figure out what makes it tick.
If it is not just a really durable electrochemical battery, it probably gleans energy from some ambient condition, and changes in the ambient condition would affect the operation. I note that in its lifetime the environment has probably had both RF energy and AC hum (probably 50 Hz) almost continuously. A blurb at the bottom of the page discusses DIY energy "generation" by tapping radio waves ... a diode will do this. I doubt a liquid diode would work with RF due to the high frequency, but possibly it could tap 50 Hz. The cell may have some properties of an electrolytic capacitor. Developing an ion surface charge via AC excitation would be something I would look for, and trying it out in a shielded room would be a worthwhile test.
If it is not just a really durable electrochemical battery, it probably gleans energy from some ambient condition, and changes in the ambient condition would affect the operation. I note that in its lifetime the environment has probably had both RF energy and AC hum (probably 50 Hz) almost continuously. A blurb at the bottom of the page discusses DIY energy "generation" by tapping radio waves ... a diode will do this. I doubt a liquid diode would work with RF due to the high frequency, but possibly it could tap 50 Hz. The cell may have some properties of an electrolytic capacitor. Developing an ion surface charge via AC excitation would be something I would look for, and trying it out in a shielded room would be a worthwhile test.